EPHRATA — The Ephrata Tigers Cross Country team continued their successful season in the District 5 and 6 Championships Saturday afternoon. Both the boys and girls had strong races to qualify for state with the boys taking third and the girls taking second. 

Tigers Head Coach Lyndsy Roberts said because of their high ranking all season the girls team set their sights high on the district meet. Heading into Saturday, they knew their toughest challenge would be against Ellensburg, who has been ranked second in the state all season. 

"We set a high and lofty goal to go after them, and our girls responded," he said. "They ran incredible and they almost did it. We fell six points short of Ellensburg but took that second spot by a good margin and had lots of fast times from our ladies. I was really proud of their effort." 

At the end of the meet, the nine of the top 14 runners were from Ephrata or Ellensburg. Ellensburg nudged ahead with a team score of 34 points with their top runners taking first, third and fourth place. 

The Tigers' top five runners for the girls were Abigail Chamberlain (18:34.9) in second, Savannah Harper (19:26.1) in fifth, Zoie Grubb (19:28.6) in seventh, Rebecca Wiser (19:52.3) in 12th and Hannah Malone, who ran a season best, (19:59.4) in 14th. The team finished with a score of 40 points. 

Those top five runners' consistency finishing together this whole season has played a major role in the team's success.  

"Got all of our girls under 20 minutes, which is an amazing accomplishment there," said Roberts. "It's kind of a testament that by working together all season, those girls have learned to back up and run as a team and that's going to help us a lot when we get into the state meet and it's a much larger field." 

This success is something the coach said has been consistent with the strong group of seniors, since they started as freshmen. As time passed, the younger classes started bringing in more talented athletes which eventually built into the successful team they have this season. 

Even outside the top five this success continued with Gracee Neff (21:25.9) in 45th and Annabelle Adams (22:16.0) in 53rd making strong runs to qualify for state. 

"They all ran so well on the girls side," said Roberts.  

The boys had a tough road ahead as North Central and Ellensburg were the ranked first and second in state going into Saturday's meet. 

"They were a little bit separated from everybody else and we knew it, but there were two more state spots available and there were four teams that were vying for it that were relatively close to one another," said Roberts. "We knew we needed a special kind of race from all of our runners top to bottom, one through seven, on our varsity boys side." 

Ephrata's top five consisted of Niko Diaz (15:41.7) in 11th, Caleb Fitts (14:42.7) following directly behind in 12th, Seve Molitor (16:06.2) in 22nd, Caleb Schooler (16:07.0) in 24th and Louden Leenhouts (16:47.8) in 36th. Following not far behind were Mitchell Johnson (17:08.4) in 43rd and Mike Jimenez (17:22.9) in 51st.  

"They all ran huge personal bests in terms of that distance and were able to as a team because that's truly what it took to grab that third spot and solidify the spot to state," said Roberts. 

The Tigers also had a unified athlete qualify for the state co-ed race for the first time. Sunnie Neff, a senior for Ephrata, competed in the unified district 5k where she finished with a time of 21:28.0. 

Neff will be running in a 2-mile co-ed race alongside JV runner Zane Sieg at the state meet. 

After the district championships had concluded, Roberts was also selected as the District 5 Coach of the Year for the Cross-Country season for both the Tigers boys and girls teams. While proud to earn the honors, he said it wouldn't be possible without the hard work from his athletes.  

"The coach is the one getting recognized, but it's really just a reflection of the kids," said Roberts. "They're running fast so they make me look good. I'm thankful, but I really just kind of say thanks to the kids for that result. They've been doing successful things, making me look good, but it's really they've earned every bit. They worked hard all through the summer and I'm glad to see them getting rewarded here at the end result." 

Ephrata's work isn't finished as the athletes look ahead for the cross-country state championship meet this weekend. Roberts said the Tigers' focus will be less for building up for bigger gains, but instead, ironing what it takes to have a successful run 

"We take care of all the details, the little things, and make sure that their minds are calm and they're ready to race hard for their teammates," said the coach. 

Pushing forward for each other has been a central mindset for the Tigers this season and has played a huge part in their success. Roberts encourages his runners not to compete against each other, but to have each athlete judge their success on where they are at and work to cheer on their teammates. 

"Let's do this together, let's measure day to day where you were to where you are now, regardless of how you raced against your teammates," he said. "You (also) want to have that support system to be like, 'Hey, I'm running because I am wanting to do well for myself, but I also want to run for my team.'" 

Ephrata looks to finish their exciting season on a high note with the teams sending both the boys and girls to state together for the first time in years. The coach said both the boys and girls remain with high goals and are not going to settle with making it to state. 

"Let's not be satisfied, let's make sure we have a clear vision of what we want to go do on Saturday," said Roberts. "Without a goal, you won't do as well. You've got to have the vision to grab." 

The Tigers head to Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco on Saturday for the State Championships with the girls race at 10:30 a.m. and the boys race at 12:30 p.m.

    Ephrata's top five girls runners from Saturday, Zoie Grubb, Hannah Malone, Abigail Chamberlain, Savannah Harper and Rebecca Wiser.
  

    The Tigers boys team takes a photo together on the podium at Apple Ridge Run following the district meet Saturday.